The long, bitter and divisive war between IndyCar Series and Champ Car that began in 1996 seems to have come to an end with an agreement to amalgamate the series imminent.

Gerry Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven of Champ Car are close to reaching an agreement with Indy Racing League founder Tony George to join forces.

The one hurdle that needs to be cleared is getting officials at Twin-Ring Motegi in Japan to move their race date from April to later in the season so that the Long Beach Grand Prix can be added to the IndyCar schedule.

George is expected to meet with officials in Japan on Monday to personally negotiate the move for the Japan race date, which is vital because that facility is owned by Honda, the sole engine supplier of IndyCar.

IndyCar vice president of public relations John Griffin remained hopeful a resolution could be reached.

"Meetings have and will continue to be ongoing but there are no set dates for a formal announcement," Griffin said. "There's still some work to be done.

"It's as close as it's ever been to being together, but we don't know if we can get across the goal line," George told Robin Miller of SpeedTV.com on Thursday evening. "But no one is giving up yet."

Under terms of the agreement, any Champ Car team that agrees to compete on the full IndyCar schedule will get free Dallara chassis and Honda engines to assist in the transition from Champ Car, which uses a completely different engine/car formula.

All Champ Car teams that joined the IndyCar Series would also be eligible for the TEAMS programme, which pays US$1.2 million per car for full-time series participation in place of prize money.

The Champ Car circuit would cease to exist under the agreement.

In addition to adding the Long Beach Grand Prix to the schedule, IndyCar is expected add two more races off the Champ Car schedule - including Edmonton and Surfer's Paradise, Australia.

The combined series could have as many as 24 cars participating for the full season. The IndyCar Series would be the sanctioning body for the combined series, with the 92nd Indianapolis 500 as the centerpiece event.

This ends one of the longest divisions in open wheel history and after many failed attempts, it appears perseverance has paid off.

Kalkhoven was optimistic in comments he made to Miller.

"Both sides want this to happen very much and we're working on it," Kalkhoven told Miller.